Aircraft carriers were of great importance in the wide battling area. In June 1942, the Americans managed to sink Japanese carriers in the sea battle of Midway. This balanced the relative strength of the two powers, and as early as August the Americans attacked Guadalcanal on the Solomon Islands. The battles now moved from island to island. The Western Allies had come to an agreement that their forces should first be concentrated in Europe, and after that in Asia. The naval forces, however, fought great sea battles, and in the battle of Leyte in the Philippines in October 1944, Japan lost the bulk of its navy. In spring and summer 1945, the Americans were already approaching the Japanese islands. With the fighting becoming more and more desperate, Japanese pilots started to make suicide attacks (kamikaze), flying straight into the side of the ship.

Although Japan now was the only Axis state still fighting, she warded off all requests of surrender. At this point, the American aeroplanes dropped the two pernicious atom bombs, which led to unprecedented consequences, first on Hiroshima on 6 August, 1945 and then on Nagasaki on the 9th. The Soviet Union attacked the Japanese rear in Mantchuria on 9 August. On the following day, the Japanese gave notice of their surrender, but the capitulation treaty was not signed until September 2, 1945. In practise, the hostilities in the Pacific region did not die down in the most remote areas until October.